OBS BOOK VS. MOVIE: A SOUND OF THUNDER

“Step on a mouse and you leave your print, like a Grand Canyon, across Eternity. Queen Elizabeth might never have been born, Washington might not cross the Delaware, there might never be a United States at all. So be careful. Stay on the Path. Never step off! ”

In the future, there is a time machine. The super rich can now pay to go back in time and hunt the greatest game that ever lived: dinosaurs. You just have to make sure you don’t change anything in the past, otherwise you’ll change the future. Even the smallest change, even a tiny bug, multiplied by millions of years, can change everything…

The short story (of the same name) by Ray Bradbury was originally published in 1952. Bradbury took the phrase “The Butterfly Effect” and made it quite literal. In an arms-race charged 50’s, the moral is the smallest actions have great consequences. The story is beautifully written and a joy to read.

Originally scheduled for release in 2003, the film was delayed until 2005 due to a number of issues. Originally Pierce Brosnan was going to star. While filming, there was a flood in Prague (where they were shooting) and the entire cast and crew had to evacuate. Then the production company went bankrupt. During the writing of the script, the original screenwriter was fired because he wanted to remove the butterfly from the story. Ray Bradbury was so upset that producer’s agreed to fire the writer. The film was finally release in September of 2005.

Similarities

Time Safari

Travis is still the leader of the hunt

Differences

The bullets

They shoot the same Allosaurus every time; in the book they shoot a Tyrannosaurus Rex-once. They also say the wrong Era: Allosaurus lived in the late Jurassic (145 million years ago) while the Tyrannosaurus lived in the Cretaceous (65 Million years ago).

The changes that results from stepping off the path take time to occur, and increase everyday in waves; in the book they are noticed the second they get back (because the change took place as a result of a change to the past).

The reason everything has changed is different too.

Accuracy rating: ½ out of 5. The concept is the same, but after the first 20 minutes it’s an entirely different time travel story.